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On top of what Michael O'Church is saying, which I agree with entirely, there's a huge different in the types of traders and types of trading firms there are.

On top of what Michael O'Church is saying, which I agree with entirely, there's a huge different in the types of traders and types of trading firms there are. At small, purely algo shops (ala Jane Street), the traders are your nerds. They're programmers, engineers, mathmeticians, physicists, but they just happen to trade. The incredibly aggressive people that you're talking about is mostly floor traders, brokers, etc, because they need to be that way, and they're generally on their way out, as algos will be smarter and faster. I've worked in a variety of industries (in software development), and am currently at an HFT shop, and I've found this to be the first place I feel actually values my abilities.

PublicEnemy111 12y ago
Would you say that, as a HFT shop, you are only competing with other HFT shops? I've heard that HFTs use nearly identical algorithms, so now its basically a competition for real estate near the exchanges.
- busterarm 12y ago
  HFT shops compete for real estate and hiring (especially this and fiercely - non-complete clauses and lawsuits are standard) with each other but in terms of their trading competition it varies widely based on what algos they use. An algo is basically just a trading strategy (sure, there's a basic set of these) but speed of data collection/processing and execution gives you more options. You can design an algo to hunt other HFTs or not. You can also trade against HFTs if you're not.
- kasey_junk 12y ago
  Real estate near exchanges has essentially been standardized and is no longer a significant strategic advantage.
busterarm 12y ago
> The incredibly aggressive people that you're talking about is mostly floor traders, brokers, etc, because they need to be that way, and they're generally on their way out, as algos will be smarter and faster. This is definitely true but they're not always aggressive. Generally quants are the nicest people I've had to work with in the industry. I've had a floor trader kick me hard under his desk because I wasn't replacing his Bloomberg keyboard fast enough (<2 minutes). That's said, I've have a quant or two be a passive-aggressive dickwad too...but in general, way nicer than floor traders.

PublicEnemy111 12y ago

Would you say that, as a HFT shop, you are only competing with other HFT shops? I've heard that HFTs use nearly identical algorithms, so now its basically a competition for real estate near the exchanges.

busterarm 12y ago
HFT shops compete for real estate and hiring (especially this and fiercely - non-complete clauses and lawsuits are standard) with each other but in terms of their trading competition it varies widely based on what algos they use. An algo is basically just a trading strategy (sure, there's a basic set of these) but speed of data collection/processing and execution gives you more options. You can design an algo to hunt other HFTs or not. You can also trade against HFTs if you're not.
kasey_junk 12y ago
Real estate near exchanges has essentially been standardized and is no longer a significant strategic advantage.

busterarm 12y ago

> The incredibly aggressive people that you're talking about is mostly floor traders, brokers, etc, because they need to be that way, and they're generally on their way out, as algos will be smarter and faster. This is definitely true but they're not always aggressive. Generally quants are the nicest people I've had to work with in the industry. I've had a floor trader kick me hard under his desk because I wasn't replacing his Bloomberg keyboard fast enough (<2 minutes). That's said, I've have a quant or two be a passive-aggressive dickwad too...but in general, way nicer than floor traders.